The Meeting
by Bassoonator
Summary: Ten year old Eponine meeting Marius for the first time. Based on the musical, not the book. First Les Mis fic.
1. Chapter 1

**First Les Mis fic ever... Kinda skimmed most of the book due to my obsession with Eponine and the fact I was bawling when she died, so sorry about the lack of detail.. Ah well, if you like it and would like me to continue, please review. Or review and tell me not to. Easy pleased.**

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Eponine's hands scavenged through the rubbish of the local cafe, her eyes constantly sweeping behind her to see if anyone was coming. The owners were careful, never leaving a scrap they couldn't use. Eventually, as she neared the end of the bin and her hope had faded, Eponine found a tiny piece of charred bread, barely enough to call a scrap at all. Eponine held the bread out in front of her, in awe of the sight, before tripping on her way down the path towards her home, chewing her beverage in delight.

Ten year old Eponine had yet to mature. Her hair was long and dirty, hadn't been brushed in years. Her face, which should still looked somewhat innocent at this age, was still round and childish but her eyes showed of her life: some nights she didn't eat, some days she didn't even have a drop of water. Bruises on her arms from hands that she thought could not harm, cut on her legs from adventures she was forced on. Fend for yourself or starve, her father had told her once. So here she was, chewing on a piece of bread harder than a stone that would have to feed her until she got lucky next time.

Eponine arrived home, to the apartment her parents rented for thirty francs a year. Her mother was admiring a piece of jewellery that her father had stolen. Monsieur Thenardier nodded and smirked, " I'm good. I know. That'll feed us for a month!" The long chain was of worn silver, with a simple stone of some sort hanging off of it. Mme. Thenardier gushed over the lovely item.  
"Oh, how I wish we were rich so I could wear things like this," she sighed. Her gaze casts to Eponine and she gave a half-hearted smile.  
Thenardier looked up and without any emotion, looked straight down.  
_Didn't he wonder if I'd eaten? If I'd been attacked on my home? _But no words were spoken, and Eponine retreated to her bedroom, where her mattress and an empty photo frame lay.

Eponine found herself wandering the street a few days later, watching as the better off people lived their lives, stopping to buy a _whole _loaf of bread, chatting with the other better off people, never dropping a sou for the ones with tears in their dresses and dirt in their hair. An older man and his grandson or son, she was unsure, caught Eponine's eye. The man was clearly rich - it was obvious from the way he held his head higher than he needed to, in contrast to the poorer people who hung their heads low in embarrassment. This man held the boy's hand and Eponine's jealousy swept in. Why couldn't her parents be _those _kind of parents?

The elder man stopped to chat with some other elder man and the child, probably a year or two elder than herself, walked off towards the bakery. Eponine followed prompt, standing a little way away from the entrance door. Minutes later, the child returned with two pieces of bread. The good, thick bread that Eponine would never be able to afford. The scent made its way to Eponine and her stomach grumbled loudly, She hadn't eaten since the burnt bread. At this moment, the boy she'd been following looked up at her, and Eponine got a better look at his face. A delicate face with lovely cheek bones and a gathering of freckles. Large green eyes and such a handsome face! Eponine was bewildered as her heart accelerated. The handsome boy smiled with white, brilliant teeth and offered the piece of bread. When Eponine didn't move, he grabbed her hand and placed the warm slice of bread in her hand. Eponine felt a warmth in her heart.

"I'm Marius," he introduced himself, nodding his head."Eponine," she replies slowly and quietly.

"'Ponine it is." Eponine saw a future she had never in a million years imagined for herself.

"Marius! We do not speak to trash! Come along now!" The elder man from earlier shouted at Marius. Eponine frowned and looked down at herself. Trash? She compared herself, wearing a dress of rags, darkening with dirt and dust and no shoes, to Marius, wearing a clean white dress shirt and straight pants. Trash indeed.

"Are we friends?" Eponine practically begged as Marius shifted towards his guardian.

"Indeed!" he responded before running off to the man.

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**Probably a one-shot. I originally posted this on my tumblr then deleted it, in case any of you were wondering... Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**OOC: Hey guys. Sorry about the lateness of this update - I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue, and school started up again. Subjects are great, so should be a great year. Well, here you go, chapter two of The Meeting. Might be the end, might not. Depends if you guys are interested/if my writer's block goes away...**

**Side note: I'm so sorry about the random information. I'm coming up with all of this as I go, and since I'm a skim reader and I skipped most of the book to get to Eponine (100% worth it), I didn't really read too much about the ABC Friends and their schooling, so anyway. Enjoy, again.**

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Eponine sat at the far corner of the cafe, curled up into the worn chair staring over at Marius. How could just one person have such a brilliance in their smile? Such a warmth in their heart? Such an ignorance. Eponine, now a gangly fourteen year old, was smitten over young Marius, now fifteen. Of course, like any good unrequited love story, Marius was clueless to Eponine's strong feelings towards him. Eponine clung onto everything Marius did or said. She loved his laugh the most - that darling chuckle of his. Eponine felt a smile press on her lips.

Marius was currently reading - something that he'd begun to teach Eponine but she failed to really bother, too distracted by how deep Marius' eyes were. Marius and his friends were all students and Eponine couldn't help but wish she could fit in with the conversations of theirs. They often forgot altogether about the young girl sitting in the corner staring carelessly at the boy she was in love with.

Was fourteen too young to be in love? If you believe so, you have to understand something. Eponine isn't the normal kind of girl who falls from one boy to another just because she wants some boy to call her own. She was the kind of girl who held onto everything she could that brought her happiness because she had nothing to her name except what she had on her. It just so happened that Marius _was _the only thing that made her happy. He was the only light in an other wise dark world and in the end, Eponine just wanted to hold onto him as long as she could before something happened. He moved away with his grandfather, or her father forced her to complete a crime that rewarded her with a visit to a prison for years and years until he forgot about her.

So, yes, maybe for a young lady who has everything, fourteen is too young an age to feel these emotions. But for a girl who has nothing, well, was it really too young an age still? To try and hold onto the happiness she had instead of face reality?

"Eponine!" Marius' voice broke Eponine's thoughts on how bright his eyes shone. "Join us!" Eponine stumbled out of her seat to join the large group of boys who were staring at a large map of God knows what. Eponine's eyes gazed around the group, stopping on each individual face. Gavroche, the young devil, probably only five or six, had a familiarity in his eyes that haunted Eponine and because she couldn't place him, every look they exchanged was awkward. His long mop of dark blonde hair was covering most of his eyes. He sat on Courfeyrac's lap, too small to reach up to see the contents of the table.

Courfeyrac was a fascinating person to be around, probably a little older than Marius. His dark curls made his face more round and childish, making him look around Eponine's age when in fact, he was probably getting closer to adulthood. Eponine admired him for taking such a care towards Gavroche, a child who Eponine had once known but was lost in the memories of childhood. One along from Courfeyrac was Enjolras, who always had something to say. His ash blonde hair was untidy compared to his too straight jacket and pants and his too clean shoes. Eponine looked like absolute filth beside him. Enjolras was not exactly an approachable person, so she'd never really taken a liking to him, but from what she saw of him, he'd someday be the cause of some great rebel. He was a leader, never a follower.

Next to Enjolras was Grantaire, who had a mild addiction to alcohol*. His dull brown hair and dark blue eyes were both rather boring on a face quite as extravagant as Grantaire. With a lovely point to his nose and high cheek bones, he might've been related to royalty. Matching his interesting face, his personality was quite out there also. Jean was a lovely man - a poet, a romantic and such a subtle brilliance that was hidden under his thick rimmed glasses and permanently furrowed eye brows. Combeferre, Bahorel, Feuilly, Joly and Lesgle were the few of the friends that Eponine had never really gotten to know.

Eponine squeezed through the men until she was beside Marius who pulled her aside. He leaned down to whisper into her ear. "If we leave now, we can escape Enjolras' next plan." Eponine felt her heart fill with glee as she grinned up at Marius who said his good-byes, abandoning the map and leaving out the cafe door in a matter of minutes.

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Eponine found herself and Marius talking about anything and everything. They stopped by the Rivière Solitaire, or the lonely river, a river surrounded by nothing but millions of trees that let no light in. Walking back from the river along the Parisian streets, Eponine felt like she couldn't have been more content in life. If this was all she got in life, she was happy. As Eponine and Marius passed the beggars - people Eponine recognised and nodded in acknowledgement as she passed - she noticed Marius had stopped in his tracks, staring across at something.

Or someone. Arm in arm with an elder man with greying hair and a haunted face, was a petite girl, no older than Eponine. Long locks of blonde curls fell over her shoulder. Blue eyes stared back at Marius' brilliant green ones. Such affection. Eponine felt her heart break.

"I've got to go," Marius waved back at Eponine as he walked a little way a way, staring at the girl who was already gone with the elder man.

"He was never mine to lose," Eponine reminded herself quietly.

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Eponine arrived home, heart thumping in her chest and dark thoughts flying through her mind. What had just happened? How did a lovely afternoon with Marius end in Eponine wanting to scream? She had long since learnt how to control her tears, but those moments were saved for when her father would hit her, not for when a boy who had never hurt her slit her heart. Who was that girl? Why had her blue eyes looked so familiar? Filled with such an innocence? Eponine scurried to her hole of a room, sitting on her small mattress, stuffed in the corner. She stared at the no longer empty photo frame, which now held a drawing of Marius and Eponine together, sketched skilfully by Bahorel.

Marius had stared at this girl in a way he'd never looked at Eponine. Much to Eponine's dismay, she'd stared back the same way. Why was she so familiar though?

"Heard there's some new richie in town," Thenardier's voice echoed through to Eponine's room. "Has a daughter with him. Might be a good time to use the ol' starving child trick."

"Never know, maybe the stranger will bring back our Cosette. Fifteen hundred francs was just a rental price!" Mme. Thenardier scoffed.

Cosette. _Cosette. _The small child that Eponine had dismissed as garbage in the days where she was still around. Back in the time where things were still well, living in the lovely inn where there was no missing out on meals or wearing the same clothes twice. Eponine smirked suddenly. Oh, how times have changed.

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**OOC: Well, what did you guys think? I've been watching every version of Les Mis I can get my hands on lately, and just got the Sam Barks videos from West End in London '10. It's AMAZING. Samantha is an amazing Eponine and most definitely my favourite so far. I hope my interpretation of Eponine is up to your standards. c: Any who, please review.**

*I have no clue what age people started drinking at in the 1800s, so excuse the lack of detail, I just went with my ideas of the characters.


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